


Luka Couffaine and the Triwizard Champion

by astronavigatrix



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Badass Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, F/M, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, Luka Couffaine is a Smitten Idiot, Triwizard Tournament, caline bustier salt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:13:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23761360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astronavigatrix/pseuds/astronavigatrix
Summary: Luka's always been good at going with the flow, but the Beauxbatons representative is more of a force of nature.
Relationships: Juleka Couffaine/Rose Lavillant, Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 42
Kudos: 637
Collections: Good Shit To Read Again AKA GSTRA





	Luka Couffaine and the Triwizard Champion

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Quickspinner](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quickspinner/gifts).



> Running with the Scottish Couffaines headcanon, which means he goes to Hogwarts while Juleka goes to Beauxbatons because she's younger and has lived in France longer.

  
  
  


"…Luka?"  
  
"Marinette…?"  
  
The Room of Requirement had a strange sense of humor sometimes. When Luka had thought, idly, that he could use a bit of inspiration, he hadn't expected to somehow end up with Marinette wandering in. Although… given the time of night and her appearance, he somehow felt that his desire for a muse wasn't the only reason she was there. Rumpled hair, sleep mask pushed up into her bangs, and arms rubbing up and down her arms despite the oddly lukewarm night— wait, was she shivering? Approaching slowly, Luka set his guitar aside and lit the tip of his wand with a whisper. The sight of Marinette dripping what could only be lake water onto the stones and her one missing slipper made it apparent what must have happened.  
  
"Oh Marinette..."  
  
Something in the tone of his voice must have broken her. In an instant he had to brace himself for the impact of her against his chest, and he fumbled to set his wand atop a nearby crate in order to curl his arms protectively around her. For a few minutes they stood there, Marinette sobbing into his steadily-soaking shirt and Luka murmuring gentle reassurances against her hair. When she finally pulled away and saw the way his shirt stuck to his chest, she made a garbled sound of distress and pulled forcefully away, babbling apologetically. One of Luka's hands settled atop her head, the other rising to his lips, and he shook his head gently as he shushed her apologies. Picking up his wand and his guitar, he offered Marinette his hand and began to tug her toward the exit, prompting her for the story behind her appearance in the castle so late at night.  
  
Of course it had to do with Lila.  
  
The other girl had asked Marinette to 'talk' that evening in front of all their friends, making it impossible for her to decline. The rendezvous on the docks, not long after most students were expected to be asleep, had been a setup. Their chaperone, Mlle. Bustier, had allowed the meeting because she 'hoped they would put their difficulties aside and come out of it good friends', but as Marinette and Luka (and most of his classmates) well knew, Lila had no intention of that happening. The ensuing 'accident' ended with Marinette in the lake and she hadn't surfaced despite the urgent calls of her friends at the docks. Urgent calls which, not minutes before, had been accusatory jabs over her 'jealousy' and 'spite'.  
  
If they wanted spite, then they could worry over what someone 'accidentally' being knocked into a frigid lake in late fall might do.  
  
Ever since the Beauxbatons delegation had arrived a few weeks ago, there had been tension among its students. No, to be accurate, the tension had been present even before they'd arrived, heralded (from what he'd gathered) by the return of a yearmate to the class. His sister had explained some of it as having to do with Marinette's feelings for another of the members of their group, but… from what he'd seen, she didn't instigate anything. In fact, she kept herself deliberately separate from the rest when they weren't confined to their assigned class times. Any time an incident occurred it was, invariably, because Lila deigned to give Marinette her attention, the results of which were usually disastrous for Marinette, be it physically or emotionally. It was taxing to watch, and the attempts of some of the students and even faculty from the other schools to intervene were spurned by the seemingly sweet Mlle. Bustier, who insisted that everything was fine. Looking down at the waterlogged girl trailing the halls beside him, Luka wasn't sure Mlle. Bustier wasn't being willfully ignorant. If he were in her shoes, he would have demanded to be returned home, Triwizard competitor or no.  
  
Yet here Marinette was, still willing to represent a school that, as far as he could tell, was doing everything it could to make her feel as if she wasn't welcome among its students.  
  
The twists and turns he took probably seemed nonsensical, but they were essential to keep from being caught out this late, be it by portraits or the groundskeeper. He left Marinette in the kitchens with the house elves and a mug of hot chocolate and slipped back into his own room to change his shirt and grab something for Marinette. When he returned, he found her half-dry and beginning to work on _pain au chocolat_ with some of the house-elves, up to her elbows in ingredients and measurements. It made it hard to contain the increasingly smitten smile on his face, and in the end he couldn't quite do it. From the look on Marinette's face as he handed her the spare clothes (a sleeveless band shirt he'd long grown out of and one of his spare hoodies) it was more evident than he might have liked. When he turned around to let her change, he heard Marinette whispering something to one of the elves, and when he turned around, he nearly choked.  
  
The hoodie was long enough to cover her like a dress, and it was a good thing, because Marinette's pajama pants were gone, hung by a nearby stove to dry with the rest of her things, and she couldn't quite meet his eyes as she rolled up the sleeves and resumed baking.  
  
Luka went back to his dorm with a fresh plate of chocolate-filled sweets later that morning, having slipped into a nap alongside Marinette for a few hours before they were awoken by the rush of house elves preparing the morning meal. When he spied Marinette at breakfast, her uniform shirt was unbuttoned over his borrowed t-shirt, his hoodie (in Hufflepuff black and gold) tied around her waist under the periwinkle of her robes. When she looked up and smiled shyly at him, Luka could only stare back, feeling the heat creeping up the back of his neck, eyes unable to stop shifting between the soft blush on Marinette's cheeks and the deep v of his Misfits shirt peeking out beneath her white button-down. When he was finally able to turn away and sit down, it was only to press both hands over his mouth, close his eyes, and whine softly into his palms while beside him, his dorm-mates exchanged looks and sighed at his theatrics.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
The thing about competing against Marinette was that it didn't feel like _competing_ against Marinette. More often than not (to Luka's equal parts chagrin and delight) it felt like watching Marinette get the upper hand on him and the guy from Durmstrang and shooting ahead of them while the two of them struggled in her wake. The first test, a scavenger hunt for which all the clues were riddles devised by a _Sphinx_ of all things, had left him thinking further outside of the box than he usually tended to, and the poor competitor from Durmstrang struggling to come to any answers at all, never mind the correct ones. Marinette, meanwhile, had taken the grounds by storm after each riddle, hindered only by suspicious 'accidents' that kept popping up wherever she went. Once or twice, he'd thought he'd catch up to her, but if anything, the inconveniences that kept trying to get in her way only made Marinette more determined. Once or twice, when they passed each other headed to and from their destinations, he'd see her shooting a glare at something just out of sight.  
  
By the end of the next week, after hearing one too many of Lila's pointed jabs at Marinette about how it was 'so lucky' that her clumsiness hadn't cost her the Trial, he knew what it had probably been.  
  
This trial had been an obstacle course, one that changed after each competitor went through it, meant to test their knowledge of magical items and minor hexes while also testing them to keep on her feet. He'd gone first, struggling through some of the more complicated obstacles, then retreated to the area where the Champions had been settled to wait in order to watch the other two. Marinette had given him an enthusiastic thumbs up when he'd returned, slightly grimy and a little singed but none the worse for wear, and they'd watched the Durmstrang student together. A little before Marinette's turn was due to come up, there was a commotion near the front of the tent, a couple of her classmates apparently there to wish her luck. Luka didn't catch the fact that Lila was among them until Marinette had reacted to a sudden hug from the girl by shoving her off, visibly shaking from the contact. When her other classmates began to raise their voices in disbelief, Luka slipped up behind Marinette and stared them all down coolly until they left, his hand on the small of Marinette's back.  
  
The problem didn't become evident until Marinette was called into the course, and as she'd reached into the pocket of her robes for her wand, her hand had come up empty. A moment of panic had ensued, with Marinette looking on the ground to make sure she hadn't drooped it, but Luka could see the instant she realized what must have happened. He could tell because it was the instant he realized it too, both their eyes snapping toward the stands— and to Lila Rossi's smirking face. The expression disappeared after a second though, and before Luka could toss his wand over the divider in the hopes that it might work for her, Marinette grit her teeth, stared at the first obstacle (a platform for which a levitation charm would have been needed to reach in order to set into motion the next obstacle), shrugged off her robes and launched herself forward.  
  
Luka watched, transfixed, as she ran up along the trunk of a tree nearby, hooked her hands over one of the upper branches, and _swung_ herself out over the air, gripping the edge of the platform with her fingers and hauling herself up.  
  
From there she continued on with a single-minded determination, taking every challenge that came her way with unfettered creativity and a singular intensity that did not bode well for whatever awaited her at the end. Especially after at one point, a scream of raw frustration had sent lightning through her current obstacle, which had promptly collapsed. Luka felt suddenly, uncomfortably _warm_. When her trial was done, before the headmasters could even announce her score, Marinette stalked toward the stands, toward Lila, who was taking the excitement to try and sneak away. Except Luka was moving before he could really think, lifting his wand and pointing it dead at the brunette who stared at him with wide green eyes as if she didn't think he would have acted.  
  
How often that must be true for other people was almost enough to make him feel sick.  
  
" _Immobulus_!"  
  
Only partway out of her seat, Lila Rossi froze, unable to so much as twitch as Marinette ran toward them. Meanwhile, Luka shoved forward past Marinette's protesting classmates and reached into Lila's robes to pull out Marinette's wand, unique because of the bright red stone at its end. Around them several people gasped, and Luka held the wand aloft toward the judges— their _Headmasters_ — and called down, expression furious:  
  
"This… this… lying, manipulative _brat_ -!" He falters if only because he doesn't want to waste the breath on her, and instead continues, "she _stole_ Marinette's wand! She could have gotten her _killed_!" He holds the wand out to Marinette, who had finally reached them, and who takes her wand and clutches it to her chest, expression stormy. "If she isn't removed from the school grounds _immediately_ , who knows what else she might do? It's only luck she didn't get hurt this time, but I for one don't think there should be opportunity for there to be a next time!"  
  
Marinette's expression was stricken as she looked between him and her classmates with wide, panicked eyes, when a small redhead from the group stepped up, raising her own wand in a tightly-clenched fist.  
  
"He's right!" And she turned to her classmates then, fury in her eyes, wand pointed at them accusingly. "And none of you can say 'oh it was an accident' or that she's 'overreacting' this time! Or what, is it actually going to take her getting seriously hurt for you guys to stop being jerks and _listen to our friend_!?"  
  
"I beg your pardon, young lady," Luka heard his headmistress's voice speak up, low and benign, hands folded inside her sleeves and eyes narrowed. "What do you mean 'this time'?"  
  
Several members of the class went still, most notably Mlle. Bustier, and a red-haired boy was the one who spoke up this time, pulling a scroll from his bag with only _slight_ hesitation.  
  
".…I've got a list of the most recent things," he began, and his eyes landed on Marinette sadly, "but those are only the things I've noticed, and I'm sure it's not all, right Marinette?"  
  
And as more and more of Marinette's other classmates began to look a cross between nauseous and anxious, Luka set a hand on her shoulder and nodded, encouraging.  
  
"No," Marinette said at length, locking eyes with a boy in the back with bright green eyes, who looked, quite suddenly, like a rabbit caught out in the open, "it's not. Is it Adrien?"  
  
The silence that stretched then was deafening, and the Headmistress nodded her understanding, looking down toward Mssr. Damocles, still seated at the judge's table, looking impossibly guilt-stricken. The headmistress nodded Luka toward Marinette, her wand flicking out to lift Lila into the air like a comically-posed statue. Luka wrapped an arm around Marinette and began to guide her after the Headmistress, who made it halfway down the stairs with the students who had stepped forward in tow before realizing their teacher wasn't following.  
  
"Do you require an _official_ summons to my office, Miss Bustier, or will you be joining us now, before the Ministry gets involved?"  
  
"Th-the ministry?" The young woman squeaked, looking increasingly distraught. Headmistress McGonagall looked positively underwhelmed.  
  
"This is going to be a rather international disciplinary case," she drawled, looking down at the girl she was floating along, something sharp and dangerous in her eyes as they locked with Lila's. "I'm afraid something that comes so close to _attempted murder_ is something we can hardly overlook, these days."  
  
"A-attempted—!?" Mlle. Bustier's distress only seemed to be growing, and with it, Luka could sense Headmistress McGonagall's disdain doing the same.  
  
"Yes, of course you daft woman," the Headmistress snapped as she stopped at the bottom of the stands. "This is the _Triwizard Tournament_. It's dangerous enough even _with_ a wand. That your student would knowingly disarm a classmate during such harrowing trials constitutes that much at _least_. Or were you intending to defend that she could not possibly have _known_ the consequences of her actions?"  
  
It was almost a dare, at that point, for Mlle. Bustier to continue speaking, to continue digging her grave, and Luka couldn't say he felt particularly sympathetic. Not with the way he could feel Marinette shaking against his side as the tension continued to mount. Luka cleared his throat, and the Headmistress set her formidable gaze on him, causing him to balk only for a moment.  
  
"Maybe we should continue this in your office, ma'am?" he ventured quietly, eyes flicking to the gathered crowd, and the Headmistress heaved a sigh, but nodded, straightening to call across the pitch:  
  
"You too, Damocles! My office! _Now_!"  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
Asking Marinette to the Yule Ball hadn't been the hard part. The hard part had been the months after, the waiting and preparation and over-thinking about whether or not his dress robes were up to snuff. The latter was exacerbated by the red-haired girl from Marinette's class, Alix, who had come up and told him that she'd seen the robes Marinette was working on and that they were (in no uncertain terms) _gorgeous_. When Marinette eventually realized he was worried, she'd only smiled at him, taken his hands, and reassured him that she was only working so much on her robes because if she didn't, she'd spend the entire time thinking herself into a corner. That, or thinking about the Lila situation.  
  
Luka could definitely agree that the Lila situation was something that didn't need her thinking about more than she had to.  
  
While the other girl had in fact been punished for her actions, there wasn't a way to get her out of the school until after the holidays, and so she'd been confined to her room in the Beauxbatons accommodations, with Mlle. Bustier having to put in extra hours to keep her on course with her schoolwork— something which would only last until she was returned to France. From what Luka had heard while waiting with Marinette after the incident, getting the appropriate means of transport on such short notice would be difficult, made more so by the fact that Lila's mother was a considerably busy liaison with the Muggle world. Luka had been particularly vehement about getting her out as soon as possible, and though the Headmistress had taken his words into consideration, in the end it was up to Mssr. Damocles, who insisted that getting her out any sooner was impossible without disrupting the rest of his school's educational schedule.  
  
That stubborn insistence proved to be unfortunate.  
  
Luka wasn't there for it, but he heard everything later from Juleka, who had been the one who'd had to help drag Marinette away from the Beauxbatons quarters, struggling to get back and get her hands on Lila. After calming Marinette down, the girl had dropped asleep against him out of sheer emotional exhaustion, and Juleka settled next to them, hesitantly, and explained. Apparently, as a 'reward' for 'good behavior', Mlle. Bustier had let Lila out of her room to stretch her legs, under her careful supervision, of course. Unfortunately, Mlle. Bustier was easily distracted, and by the time the uproar of the 'accident' had reached her ears, it was too late. Lila had knocked into a candlestick in the room Marinette shared with Alya and Rose, and it had conveniently rolled to a stop in front of the dress form holding Marinette's dress. Its hem had gone up in flames, and while Rose was quick to extinguish it, the damage had been done. Lila had exited the room, shoved out and into their Professor by Rose with indignation all over her features, just as Marinette had returned from a break. Upon seeing the damage done to her dress, Marinette had tossed her things down where she stood and taken Lila by the hair to start an honest-to-goodness fight.  
  
(Luka had not at all pleased by the fact that Marinette had been pushed to that point, but he admitted to himself that he would have loved to see it.)  
  
The incident was enough to tip the Headmistress over the edge though, and the majority of the school was treated to the reaming she gave both Mssr. Damocles and Mlle. Bustier as she dragged them all up to her office to arrange an escort for Lila. Not, as previously planned, back to her school, but to someplace she could be detained until she could be tried. No matter Mlle. Bustier's weak tries at defense, attempted arson wasn't easily overlooked. When Marinette eventually woke up, the righteous fury that had filled her before was replaced with a quiet resignation that didn't suit her pretty face. So after he bid her farewell, he stopped his sister from following, and began to hatch a plan.  
  
Now Luka had never been a guy for big gestures; drawing too much unwanted attention in the wrong kinds of situations wasn't really for him. Attention for his music was one thing, but putting himself on the spot had never been his strong suit. Yet two weeks later found him at the center of just that as he clambered onto the (suddenly empty) top of one of the dining hall tables, guitar in hand and nerves alight. Eyes from all over the room fell on him, but he only cared to find and look into the blue pair belonging to the girl whose melody had overtaken his heart since the first time she'd _literally_ run into him. Taking a breath, he closed his eyes for a brief moment, and when he opened them, the rising of his hands prompted the members of his house to chime in with the beginning of the song's chorus of voices, loud and excitable.  
  
" _When Rome's in ruins—!_ "  
  
He wasn't sure at what point in the song someone (Juleka, he was fairly certain) pushed Marinette to her feet and toward him, but by the time they were at the second-to-last _'do you wanna feel a little beautiful baby?'_ she was leaned close and singing with him, one foot on the bench, the other on the table, and without a thinking twice he let the other members of his impromptu band finish the song as he sank to his knees and pressed his mouth to hers.  
  
(It was absolutely worth the detention.)  
  
Marinette, despite her embarrassment after the fact, also seemed to feel better about the things that she no longer had any control over, and a renewed determination to make the things she _did_ have control over work. Unfortunately that meant that the already limited time Luka had with her between classes was even more limited than before. When he asked her for at least a hint at what she was planning to wear, she only blinked up at him, then gave him a smirk that made shivers spark down his spine and to the tips of his fingers.  
  
"Well, I didn't really want to start all over, and I _definitely_ don't have the fabric, so my dress robes are going to be a little shorter than anticipated."  
  
Luka had never prayed before, had never thought to, considering he'd grown up a wizard. But in that moment, with Marinette's eyes gleaming like that and the corner of her mouth curled up just so… he very seriously considered it. Instead, he only smiled back, somewhat hazily and definitely more than a bit star-struck, and enjoyed the way Marinette's lips parted as her face went scarlet.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
In the middle of adjusting her own sleek plum and black dress robes, Juleka slapped Luka's hand away from the mock collar of his own, sighing in irritation. Considering she'd gone out of her way to help him pick out and have a new set delivered (in shades of charcoal and silver, a hint of blue along the linings) she had every right to be frustrated with him, and so Luka dropped it obediently. Shoving that hand into his pocket, the other was mindful of the corsage it held as he checked his watch, wondering if he hadn't shown up just a bit _too_ early. Juleka gave him another warning stare as his hand shifted in his pocket as if he meant to draw it out, then turned her attention to Rose as she descended the stairs. Done up in dusty pink with faint smatterings of pearl and gold, she looked completely out of place next to the two darkly-clad siblings, but Luka couldn't help but think he'd never seen anyone Juleka looked better with. Especially not when he caught the shimmering pinks at the tips of Rose's lightly-curled hair. In the middle of talking to Rose about how she'd done the color, he saw her eyes widen, and she tapped urgently at his arm until he turned to look back up the stairs, Juleka's mouth dropping open beside her.  
  
Luka did as asked and turned, and only Juleka's hand clutching his arm kept him from stumbling backward down the couple of stairs he'd climbed up anxiously while he waited.  
  
At the top of the stairs, Marinette stood, adjusting the fall of the charred-looking hem of her dress, before straightening to meet his eyes. Shimmering obsidian at the hems, Marinette had embroidered golden sparks up along the gradated fabric, from deep wine red near the bottom to clear wine red at the top. The front, clearly more damaged than the rest, had been pulled into a ruche over a rhinestone-studded black petticoat that lifted the skirts up toward her thighs. Glittering stockings— no, _thigh-highs_ , he noted with a gulp— covered her slender legs, leading down into delicate-looking heels with bows at her ankles. The top pulled into a point near her collarbones, where it connected to long, shimmering pieces that draped over her shoulders, keeping it modest. Her hair was done in a simple braided twist, a few flickers of gold here and there as decorations, and after taking it all in, Luka very suddenly felt incredibly underdressed.  
  
The way Marinette raked her eyes over him when she finally spotted him, however, made him feel anything but, with as hot under the collar as he suddenly felt.  
  
"Good luck nerd," he faintly heard Juleka whisper as she and Rose departed to give him and Marinette time alone, and Luka a few extra seconds to panic over Marinette.  
  
When she stopped a couple of steps above him to put them at equal heights, he swallowed hard and continued to stare, stunned, until Marinette gave a hesitant and somewhat anxious _'hi'_ that had him shaking himself back to the present.  
  
"You look incredible," he managed to breathe, both hands clutching the ribbons of the corsage he'd gotten tightly. "I didn't think you could look more beautiful than usual but…"  
  
Marinette flushed, a warm, pretty pink that was somewhat at odds with the ferocity her dress gave her. Even so he delighted in it, a quiet 'may I?' leaving him as he reached for her (thankfully bare) wrist, and she agreed with a soft noise, lifting her wrist into his touch with a gentle smile. When he was finished tying it, he took her hand in his, despite knowing he should offer her his arm instead, and tugged her toward the Great Hall and the festivities awaiting within. A somewhat awed hush fell over those nearest the entrance when they arrived, and while Marinette seemed to scarcely notice, too fixated on her hand in his, Luka did. He noticed, and he tilted his head toward her, drawing her gaze up to him in surprise as he tilted her chin up.  
  
"Never thought I'd be heading anywhere with the belle of the ball, but ever since I met you nothing's been going like I expected," he murmured, and Marinette flushed hotly, trying to duck her gaze, only to realize he wouldn't let her. "I'm serious, Marinette. I've never met a girl like you…"  
  
"Luka…" The only thing that stopped her from leaning closer was the sudden realization of how many people were watching them.  
  
Still red-cheeked, Marinette dragged him away from the crowds near the opening and instead toward the tables full of food arranged around the room. Fingers first tight around his palm, she shifted them so they were laced together, pulling him in her wake with much more strength than he would have expected. When she finally stopped, they'd headed out to a balcony Luka was relatively sure hadn't existed before, shrouded faintly in the shadows of the doors opening out into it. There, Marinette turned, taking his other hand as well, and took a deep breath, looking up at him. Realizing that whatever she was going to say was probably taking everything she had, Luka remained quiet, giving a faint nod to encourage her to go ahead.  
  
"No one's ever looked at me and _seen_ me the way you do, Luka," she admitted, squeezing his fingers as she stepped closer. "And I really… I really like that. You've been… this whole time, I can honestly say I don't know how I would've made it through the year without you." Luka's mind immediately adds a 'literally', the Lila situation springing to mind, but he shoves it down and focuses wholly on Marinette. "And I want… I want us to enjoy tonight, because you're _wonderful_ and I'm so happy you asked me to come with you but… but when the year is over…"  
  
It struck him then, that Marinette, despite her gratitude, and despite the fact that he'd been fine with their friendship before it had taken this turn, still hadn't quite connected that none of this was _temporary_ for Luka. Not unless she wanted it to be. And since it didn't seem she did, he figured it would be in both their best interests to stop her before she got this idea embedded too deeply in her head.  
  
"When the year is over, we'll all be back in France, and I wont have to worry about my friends trying to embarrass me in front of you as often as they have been lately," he interjected, trying to bring the smile back onto her face. For an instant, he could see she was confused, her eyes narrowing and nose scrunching adorably before it struck her, like lightning, and she breathed—  
  
"Juleka's your sister."  
  
"Uh-huh," he encouraged, entirely too amused.  
  
"Juleka's your sister and she goes to my school which means…"  
  
"Which means we live together during the holidays," he informed, watching her eyes go wide, moonlight making them impossibly blue. Transfixed for a moment, he almost forgot to continue, but shook himself out of it to continue. "Which also means that this summer, if you want…"  
  
"You'd come see me?" Marinette asked, seemingly startled that he'd put in the effort, and it made his heart break all over again for how little she expected of others despite how much she gave.  
  
"If I can convince Ma to move the houseboat," he began, softly, stepping closer to lean his head down against hers, "and if you'd want me—?"  
  
"Of course I'd want you!" Marinette blurted, and then colored instantly. "I-I mean I'd want you to visit! If you can! And if you want! I… I would really love to see you." Voice softening as she lifted her head to press gently back against his, Marinette's fingers squeezed his once again.  
  
"If you want me there, wild kelpies couldn't keep me away."  
  
"Then please," Marinette murmured, eyes closing as her head tilted up a bit further, words brushing over his lips as she spoke, "please come…"  
  
"Anywhere for you, Marinette."  
  
When their kiss broke, she dropped her head to hide her smile against his chest and he dropped his own against her hair, wrapping an arm around her to give her a squeeze.  
  
"Don't think this means I'll take it easy on you in the last Trial though," she added coyly, trying and failing to hide her ecstatic giggles against his chest. Luka didn't bother trying to hide his, throwing his head back to bark out a laugh of his own.  
  
" _Chérie_ , I would never expect you to."  
  
She absolutely didn't, and in the end, Luka couldn't find it in himself to be even remotely disappointed about the fact that he hadn't won.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
"Marinette, someone's here to see you!"  
  
Pausing in watering her plants, Marinette stepped away, climbing down into her bedroom and then down the stairs into the rest of the house, charcoal smudged along one cheek and expression curious. She wasn't expecting anyone, and most of her friends from school were on holiday with their parents…  
  
"He's very cute, dear," her mother whispered conspiratorially as she walked by, and Marinette started, turning red, and immediately skidded around the corner to the front door, almost toppling over before she stopped herself with a hand against the wall.  
  
Luka looked up from where he was talking to her father, guitar case on his back, and gave her a slow, sweet smile that made her think of cool moonlight and warm kisses. When she practically launched herself into his arms, he only laughed and spun her the instant he'd gotten a good enough grip.  
  
The kisses he reminded her of would have to come later.


End file.
